I’ve been gaining interest in learning more about how to better market business’s websites. Thought I would start with books I can find at the library first, after all they are free! I came across “Web Design and Marketing Solutions for Business Websites” by Kevin Potts. It was a quick read because most of the information in the book was just review. But he did have a few quotes I liked on how he could explain situations to someone that does not have to know much about web design.

Avoiding Corporate speak - about writing better copy for the web

Imaging walking into a pastry shop, asking for a Boston cream doughnut, and getting the following response from the shopkeeper: “That particular confection, with its falsely historical nomenclature of alternate-desert elements and synergistic relationship with first light beverages…” You would probably leave. As you walked down the street looking for a Dunkin’ Donuts, you’d wonder how that bakery ever stayed in business.

The goal of copy should be to open dialog with your target audience with plain language to not intimidate them.

Reading Level
I thought it was interesting that most TV shows are written at an eighth-grade reading level to appeal to everyone. “TV is written by professionals who know how to speak to a board demographic in a common language.” It is common to assume your audience is more educated than they really are. People do not want to think too hard when reading, especially on the web where it’s easy to just click somewhere else.

Corporate Blogging
I did not realize how popular corporate blogging has become, he recommended a few books and websites on the issue:

Blogging for Business: Everything You Need to Know and Why You Should Care

buisinessblogconsulting.com - Advice, tips and best practices for corporate blogs

Technorati.com - Recognized hub of all things blogging; tracks millions of blogs

RSS for the website
There can be multiple RSS feeds on a website, which I did not think about before. Places where a RSS fed could be helpful would be on the careers page, corporate news, e-commerce (promotions, sales, new additions), support, and of course the blog. Keeping readers completely up to date will only generate more and more sales.

Teaming up with eleven of the design industry’s leading experts, Ted Crawford shows beginning and seasoned professionals everything they need to know to start and run a successful business in the book, The Graphic Design Business Book. Never judge a book by it’s cover will definitely apply here, don’t let the poorly designed cover fool you!

I always enjoy purchasing new books to get further educated on my career in graphic design. But with being laid-off my budget doesn’t really allow for that. So I thought I’d give the library a try and see what they had. Most of them were a tad outdated, but I was lucky to find this insightful book to learn more about the business side of graphic design. I wanted so share some of the things that I learned from this book.

In Chapter 8, Bringing in clients, Ted talks about how you have to think about what the client wants to hear,

You call clients to see if you can help. So think “How can I help you?” instead of “Do you want to buy?”

Your purpose is to help them with their communication problem, solving problems is a valuable service and a worthwhile endeavor.

So where can you find clients? A good place to start is ad agencies and design studios to offer design, production, photographic enhancement for their overflow projects. Along with publishers and printers for getting artwork printer ready, typesetting and production. Look for potential business everywhere you go. You may be at the doctor’s office and having a hard time understanding a procedure, think could he use a brochure to explain it clearer? Someone writes down contact information for you, could they use a business card? Or if you’re handed a poorly designed business card could a newly designed card increase their business? Ted states, “You’re not selling a service so much as you’re solving communication problems… Businesses all want to improve their visibility and profitability.” Getting leads and networking to find new clients is a good way to start.

Promoting yourself to get new business is essential. It can take on many forms, a web site, creative directories, sending out mailers or brochures, mailing lists, and pro-bono work. With a mailer you could state, “I got you to notice this direct-mail piece and consider hiring me. I could help you be noticed by your prospective clients.” I would put in examples with descriptions, along with testimonials.

I will continue my book review onto the next post with information on proposals, clients, and pricing. I would definitely recommend purchasing The Graphic Design Business Book by Tad Crawford.

I haven’t been running in a while, so I thought what a better way than to have a goal to keep me motivated. Started training for a half marathon on Monday. I found a 10-week training log for a half marathon to get me up to shape. It recommends being able to run 30 minutes straight for 4-6 weeks, but I only have 10 weeks until the Charlotte Racefest. I haven’t registered yet because I want to make sure I can actually do it! I’ve ran 3 miles straight two days in a row, and I can already tell a difference. I’m using MapMyRun.com to figure out where to run to complete each day’s recommended mileage.

I know this doesn’t relate to art, but in a way it does. It’s about believing in yourself and what you can accomplish, and a creative way to keep me motivated to get me into shape. My next goal will be to continue to train for a full marathon. I don’t usually make new year’s resolutions, because I want to continue to make every effort possible to make myself better, no matter what time of year it is. I shouldn’t need a holiday to do that.

As part of AIGA’s “Meet Your Neighbor” event, I got the privilege of touring and learning about Boone Oakley, a full service out of the box ad agency based in Charlotte, NC. Boone Oakley currently occupies one of the few remaining historical buildings in downtown Charlotte. As soon as you enter the space, you have no choice but to be inspired. Another graphic design firm occupied the space before Boone Oakley; So, Phil Smith, president/partner, explained they could not take full credit. I really regret not taking my camera. I thought it was interesting that they chose to intermingle the different types of staff throughout the building so everyone could be apart of the creative process.

Enough about the building you can’t see to appreciate…You want the dish on the company right?! Just to name a few of Boone Oakley’s long list of clients: Bloom, MTV2, HBO, American Heart Association, NASCAR, Charlotte Bobcats, Visit Charlotte… and the list goes on. Founders, John Boone and David Oakley, also have a long list of awards. I thought it was very interesting how they opened the presentation by stating, “We hate advertising, and we tell everyone that. What we’re after is the response.”

They showed us this billboard they put up in 2000 during the Bush election. One or two days later, they put up a banner along the bottom that read, “Job wanted: Proof-reader, hire.com”. They got so much response, even got on the news. From then on, clients have been coming to Boone Oakley asking them to do they same thing for their company. They definitely have an innovative, bold approach to advertising that never fails to impress their clients.

Their philosophy: “Do great work for people we like. Work with brands that we are truly passionate about. Not take ourselves too seriously. Have fun.” They said they have had to turn down some potential clients due the fact that they were unbearable to work with, even ones they went after because they thought they would be fun to work with, like MTV. And they would have never thought how much fun it would be to work with a grocery store like Bloom.

Be sure to check out their awesome work: Boone Oakley